We ran an engagement process internally. This involved sending out an email survey and meeting with 20-25 groups from across the council to collect feedback on the current websites and create a wish list for the new website. We then ran user groups with community members from different age ranges to gather further insights. This formed the basis of the tender document.
Out of the 9 vendors and agencies invited to respond to the tender, we chose to partner with Elcom. Selection was based on criteria including cost, the ability to deliver the project, previous experience working in the field, relevant experience of key personnel, and technical experience.
The project management was excellent. Our Project Manager went above and beyond in what we expected her to deliver. The communication was consistent, and we were guided through the project quite carefully and systematically.
The website has been refreshed with a new urban look and feel that reflects the Inner West community. In the first few weeks after launching, we displayed an interactive tour highlighting key functions of the new website such as the new predictive search with more ways to filter results, and the quick links of the top 12 tasks performed on the website.
We’ve grouped information by themes so people can easily find related information in one place. For example, in the environments section, you would be presented with only news, events and projects related to this theme.
We’ve introduced Around the Inner West which allows people to find out what's happening around them by entering their address. The results can be displayed in a map or list view, and filtered to show certain categories such as events, WiFi areas and off-leash dog parks.
The What’s On pages make it easy to showcase all our events visually. People can filter events by date, category, location and more. Community members simply post their own events through an online form, which is then approved or rejected by our digital team.
The resource document list has been really helpful for people. We have loads of forms that we have to provide in different formats (PDF, MS Word or an online form). A widget we had custom built, nicely displays an icon representing the format available next to the form name.
We currently have 6 teams who manage their own newsletters using Elcom’s email marketing module. We can easily manage the subscriber list and people can choose which newsletter they're interested in getting.
AA compliance was a key requirement. The website is fully compliant with WCAG 2.0 (AA Level) guidelines, offering several functions such as giving people the option to listen to the page using ‘ReadSpeaker’.